RAPTURE

For the Lord Himself shall ascend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17

 I tell you the truth a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. John 5:25

And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather His elect from the four winds from one end of the heavens to the other. Matthew 24:31

But our citizenship is in heaven. and we eagerly await a Savior from there the Lord Jesus Christ who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like His glorious body. Philippians 3:20,21

  Listen I will tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep but we will all be changed in a flash ia a twinkling of a eye at the last trumpet. The dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51,52 

 For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:3,4 Lookung for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the \great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13

Because thou has kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the the hour of temptation, which shall come upon the all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Revelation 3:10

Looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13

COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS

 Thomas J. Grace

In the year 53 AD in the city of Thessalonica a problem in the church existed that has  caused questions and debate in the church until this day. The Apostle Paul was notified that some false teachers were telling the people of the church that the day of the Lord had already come, they had missed it and it was all over Paul writes to comfort and assure them that their reward has not escaped them, they must have known that if Paul was still here the rapture did not yet occur being sure Paul would not be left behind. 1 Thes 4:13-17 explains the steps of  who shall rise and be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever.We also have Christ own words John 5:25 I say unto you. The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.                                  

      This is a matter of great concern that God has developed a large scale plan to remove Christians from the earth at this time, we have not seen such a rescue of His people during any other time of history. While Christians have faced persecutions in the past fed to lions by the Romans, and thousands tortured and crucified in the early centuries of the church. Even today when many are put to death for there faith in Christ we have not seen God intervene to spare those who will be killed for His name.  God does promise that at the seven year period we call the great tribulation when the antichrist will rule the world His own believers will be caught up to be with Him forever. We do see two examples of two people who while  alive do leave this world to be with God in heaven. The first Enoch Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found because God had taken him away. Also Elijah the prophet who may be one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 was taken alive 2 Kings 2: 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and seperated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Before this moment he had been discussing this with Elisha who had asked Elijah for a double portion of the power God had given Elijah. Elisha witnessed the Chariots of fire and did get the double portion he had asked for. Elijah had performed eight miracles and Elisha did sixteen miracles but Elisha died on earth and was buried here. Why wer Elijah and Enoch taken away while Moses, David, Peter and Paul left to die in this world, they all did go to be with the Lord as so we all but two were to experience a form of the rapture we all wait to see in our lifetime.     

      Some will say the rapture and the return of Christ will not occur until the work of the church is complete, this does not encourage me as I see a church that does not know what it believes and will never complete the task. Since the rapture is the work of God alone without any interference from man I choose to think it will happen when the work of Christ is complete. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us The Lord is not slack corcerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This is the great work of our Savior Jesus Christ certainly a huge undertaking for the salvation of the whole world. It is still a work that can be accomplished by Christ quicker than any work assigned to man. It is still our work to tell as many people as possible about Christ and lead them to salvation.                                       

     Once again I ask why will this last generation be spared the persecution that all others had to suffer through since the church began. All the apostles were killed and many of the first century church leaders were put in prison, tortured, and murdered. If this rapture was a plan of man we would call it a great escape plan  that most likely  would fail. It is not mans plan we will have no choice except to believe in Christ. We will not know the day or the hour, but are told to watch out for the signs of the times to know when the hour is close. As a act of God this is not a escape but a rescue, the act of a merciful and loving God to remove us from the greatest time of human suffering ever to exist on the world God has created. As He did create us and this world He does have that authurity to select those who will be rescued  and leave those who will remain for the tribulation and the final acts of destruction, followed by the return of Christ.                                                                                      

      As we learn of Gods plan for the defeat of the antichrist at the return of Christ and the removal of the Christian people we are reminded of the  scripture 2 Chronicles 20:15 And He said, Hearken ye, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat. Thus saith the Lord to you. Be not afraid or dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but Gods. The next day the battlefield was covered by the dead bodies of the army the Lord had slaughtered the night before. 2 Chronicles 20:24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; and no one had escaped. God had choosen who would die and who would be rescued because of His own love and anger, He also choose to take this action without the aid of man. God does have a enemy He will defeat by His own power, a battle that began in heaven before the world began and will not be over until after the one thousand year reigh of Christ on earth. Clearly God doesnot intend for us to be a part of the battle which will remove all evil and destroy for one thousand years satans power on earth.                                                    

       How shall we prepare for the great rapture of believers must we be in church, or have our Bibles with us so God will know us. Romans 8:11 tells us But if the Spirit of Him that raised up from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the Spirit that dwelleth in you. We learn that the Holy Spirit will be in each of us and as God calls His Spirit to leave this world we also will be caught up to be with the Lord. The Spirit which has held back the time of lawlessness until the last days 2 Thessalonians 2:7,8 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. Just as God spoke to Noah and said Genesis 6:3 My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal and his days will be one hundred and twenty years. So the Spirit of God will leave this world before the final return of Christ. As we read in Revelation 16:9,11 as the plagues of vials four and five were released the people refused to repent and glorify God. Repentance is not posible without the presence of the Holy Spirit.  And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to a end by the appearance of His coming. As Gods Holy Spirit has been removed from the earth  it will no longer be possible for Christians to work and minister  as the Lord has commanded us to bring the story of Christ and salvation to the world.  The Holy Spirit was part of the covenant Jesus had made with the apostles and our church today for the work He gave us to do. Without that Spirit our work cannot be accomplished and our removal with the Spirit becomes necessary. The man of lawlessness cannot function until the Spirit has been fully removed from this world and that would also include the Spirit that dwells in us.                                                    

      When we look at another great event in the Book of Exodus the people are preparing for a special evening the first Passover. They are told to gather the family and household together no one is to leave that night, they must have a lamb sacrifice dinner and put some of the blood of the lamb on the outside of the door post. This blood will be seen by the angel and the house will be spared the death of the first born male child. Here we have the whole family together to protect the life of one person in the home while the sons of the Egyptians were killed those who obeyed the Passover were spared.   Exodus 12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you nare; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. God was able to make selections of who would be spared and who would not be spared. Likewise soon on the day of the rapture God will once again have a sign like the blood on the door God will recognize you by the Holy Spirit that is in you. Both times we see both Gods mercy and anger working together to accomplish a great rescue of His believers to save them from a evil ruler on earth, first in Egypt to begin a new nation and soon in our lifetime to begin a new world.                                                 

       As the Hebrew people obeyed God by following the Passover make it your duty today to be ready as they were when the angel passed over their house to be spared and rescued from the terrible times that will face the world during the final seven years of the tribulation. Believe in Christ allow Him and the Holy Spirit to come into your life, confess your sins and be forgiven allow Jesus to be your Savior and Lord and He will rescue you from the days of the antichrist ahead.                       

       We should now look at the main three times of the possible rapture Pre tribulation, Mid tribulation and Post tribluation. Most of your post tribulation believers tell us we must suffer as all other generations must have suffered. Our generation will be no better or no holier than others and should not expect to be spared when others have not. If God choose to wait for a holy generation before He sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world we would still be waiting for His birth and first arrival. No God doesnot base His Holy plans on the condition and acts of man but on His own mercy and judgement of all who are ready to believe heard the gospel and accepted His Son as our Savior. Post tribulation believers often believe this time will not come in their lifetime, perhaps if they saw evidence of the end times coming soon their rapture belief schedule would move forward into the mid or pre tribulation views.                                                                                       

         Lets examine my favorite view the pre tribulation belief which if God is going to be loving, kind, and merciful to us it makes sense He would do this as early as possible.  I want to be rescued from these terrible times as early as possible, I do not want to be a tribulation hero as seen in some fiction books on the subject. I have no plans to do hand to hand combat with antichrist or any of his evil forces. The battle belongs to the Lord. Not the church. There will be many pre tribulation persecutions brought on by man to prepare the world for the antichrist to come into the world and we shall not be free of mans acts of persecutions. The suffering brought on the world by the antichrist will be the acts of the world ready to go to war against God a battle He does not need our help to win.                                                   

       Mid Tribulation will the church go through three and one half years of suffering and persecution during the first half of the antichrist rule on earth. We must be ready for this possible event or the great shock of being in the world at this time will cause many to fall away. While we are here the Spirit will remain in the world and in us. We must at that time follow the Holy Spirit directions exclusively and use all the gifts of the Spirit as our only source of knowledge that can be trusted. This will require great faith as we pray for His constant guideance and protection. Hours and days of prayer will be required to maintain the true personal relationship you will need with the Holy Spirit to hear His every word in these times of danger He will be your only safe guide. We can barely maintain such disipline during times of peace in the church it  is unlikely that no more than a few would keep such strong faith in times of direct battle with the enemy, I believe the Lord is returning for a great harvest with millions of believers not just a few survivors that would be hidden away and barely alive when He does choose to rapture us.                    

      Once again let us look at another great rescue as God intervenes on the battlefield to sace His people in Israel during the time of King Hezekiah. The king faced a great number of the army of the Assyrian king which could have quickly invaded and destroyed Jerusalen, But the king choose to pray and fast for Gods help which did come in a great miracle. Isaiah 37: 36 Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death one hundrede and eighty five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning they saw all dead bodies. This was pre action people spared from battle and rescued from defeat and slaughter by the enemy God intervened and took action to rescue believers not after the battle or in the middle of the battle, but while His people were sleeping they were saved and rescued from a army of great strength that would have overpowered them, killed their women and children and taken all others into slavery. We now only have one more act of God to look at to understand His mercy and love and learn how God may choose to rescue us in the final time of great danger. Let us examine Gods greatest act of love for mankind and the most important event in all the history of man the sacrifice of Gods own Son Jesus Christ. If Christ came and died at the end of the world He would then  have died for the sins that were already committed, but Christ choose to die for the sins of the whole world long before many of us were born. This is strong evidence of pre planing that His Father would accept a sacrifice for sin that has  not yet happened in lives that did not exist at the time. The work on the cross was pre our sins, pre our birth and pre planned before crearion before the world began God had already made provision for our sins to be forgiven. Ephesians 1:4 For He choose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will -to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the one He loves. All that happened a long time ago pre creation plans for our salvation guaranteed by the sacrifice of His own son for our sins to be forgiven. All this pre planing sugest to me that God as He made plans for the last days would include by the same love and mercy would rescue us soon from the tribulation soon to come on the world.                                                                                     

     Whatever time you choose to believe the rapture will happen let us all pray an trust that  God will have all things under His control and we can all trust in His love and kindness to be with us until the time He takes us to be with Him. Paul tells us in Titus 1: 2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God who does not lie, promised from the begining of time.  and also Titus 2:13 while we wait for the blessed hope the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people who are His very own, eager to do what is good. And once again let us remember Christ own words Luke 21:36 Be always on the watch and pray, that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. Would Christ Himself encourage us to pray for something that was not possible. See you there. Amen.

CHRIST LOVES YOU. AMEN COME LORD JESUS